Pardon the question, but what strings?

[adriaan]

Tapping into the collective knowledge of strings in general and Alembic basses in particular ... Time has come for changing strings on the little powerhouse of a bass that I may call mine since a few months.


It has been wearing the original Alembic strings, and they really make the bass resonate like there's no tomorrow, with so much low end you really don't want to boost the lows. Which is wonderful, but kind of a challenge at the same time. I'm thinking it wiuld do well with strings that are a little less lively. Chromes? Boomers?


My usual suspects are DR Hi-Beams, and I definitely prefer round cores.

[growlypants]

Wow - gorgeous bass!  For what it's worth, on my Sig Deluxe 5-er, I kept Alembics on there until very recently.  I felt the bass was kind of overly bright, though.  (Using GK amplification...)  I recently switched to Chromes, and couldn't be happier.  YMMV, ofcourse!

[flpete1uw]

Wow first off Gorgeous Bass! String selection is so subjective that only you can really answer this really.
However a club member recently offered up his unused Thomastik Jazz Flats which I put on my Short scale Series 1 and they reinvented the bass to me. Best stroke of good fortune I could have hoped for!
However I still use nickel rounds on my Distillate. Both basses so different so unique that they feel like completely different instruments.
 Good hunting!
Peace,
Pete

[edwin]

Clearly this is beyond what you can do at home. You need to send that bass to me and I will conduct lengthy and comprehensive experiments about the best strings for this instrument and send you a detailed report every 4 years. We'll get to the bottom of this!

[wayne]

I love my Sunbeams.  I have them on all four of my basses. 

If you want to go flat-wound, I recommend Thomastik.  I have used both the Jazz Flats and D'Addario Chromes.  Both sounded great on E, A, D, and G.  But the Chromes were a dull thud on the low B, where the Jazz Flats had true tone.  I had good experience tone-wise with Thomastik Jazz Rounds as well - a kind of in-between if you will.  But they were just to light for the bass and I didn't want to send it in for a heat-bend.  The strings sounded good, but not that good.

AND, I used the good old CX3s for YEARS with absolutely no complaint.

As is said so often, just pick a set and try them.  Every string reacts differently on every bass for every player.

The Thomastiks are the only ones I would call pricey - and they're cheap compared to what I pay to string my upright.

Have fun in the search!

C-Ya.........wayne

[hammer]

Tl Jazz flats are what I use on most of my basses. I love the feel and the tension is fine for me even on my short scale. However, I know some people experience them as floppy on the B and E. That said, I use a pick 75% of the time. The TIs sound great on my custom, Europe and SC. Nice sound on the attack a day not overly bright. If your a 100% finger player or in to slap and pop they probably wouldn't work as well for you.
I

[maarten⊙]

I've tried lots of strings through the years, but since a long time it's Elixir for me.  I use nickel,, not extremely bright, but bright enough and they keep their tone for months. Most other strings loose their tone within a month in my opinion (however there are bassists who never change their strings, og when one is broken...... So it stays a matter of taste and it depends on the style of music you play.)
Maarten

[son_of_magni]

I have to agree with all the TI Jazz Flat comments.  But I have to admit it never occurred to me to put them on a fretted bass.  I'll have to try that.

[adriaan]

Thanks for all the suggestions so far. I've had TI flats on my fretless Epic for ages, once tried them on my Spoiler but flats on a fretted neck don't agree with me, it seems. That, or the throwback to childhood exposure to flats on a very dull sounding Egmond bass-shaped object. 


I guess what I need is really a string that needs a little less muting. Any suggestions along those lines?

[xlrogue6]

I use Elixirs on my fretted Rogue 6 and Chromes on the fretless, and like them both. That said, I've got D'Addario Half Rounds on my Squier Vintage Modified Jazz and they're a nice half way point--not as bright as full rounds, but a bit brighter than flats, they also sustain a bit more than the flats. I'm going to try them on the fretted Rogue next string change (which will be a while, given how long the Elixirs hold their tone!).